February 2012 Group Read: The Sowers of the Thunder

[Michael]

The results of the poll for our next Robert E. Howard Group Read gives us the historical story, The Sowers of the Thunder.

I haven't read it (yet) myself, but there were some very enthusiastic comments from those who voted for it, so I'm looking forward to getting stuck in!

Also available to read online here.

[Michael]

We're on (a day early) for our next Group Read. Hope you can join in the discussion.

[Jim]

I think this was the first historical drama by Howard that I ever read. It blew me away & made me want to seek out others. My copy is an old Zebra paperback with pen drawings in it that I've always liked a lot.

[Mohammed]

This is one of my fav REH historical reads, i can re-read any time :)

[Jim]

I like the politics in the story. The ever changing allegiances & odd companions add a lot to the story. Also Cormac FitzGeoffrey is mentioned. Didn't Howard do a story about him or was that FitzPatrick?

[Mohammed]

You wonder if there are stories about Cormac FitzGeoffrey?

[Michael]

Jim wrote: "I like the politics in the story. The ever changing allegiances & odd companions add a lot to the story. Also Cormac FitzGeoffrey is mentioned. Didn't Howard do a story about him or was that Fit..."

It's Cormac FitzGeoffrey: We did a Group Read last year of Hawks of Outremer, which features him. He's also in The Blood of Belshazzar.

[Jim]

Thanks, Michael. Did one of those fit what is mentioned in this story?

[Michael]

Neither story mentions FitzGeoffrey plundering Shahazar, so it sounds like it's a "lost" FitzGeoffrey story.

That said, I haven't read Belshazzar, but a quick search of the online version of the story gave no hit for Shahazar. However, if it's a story about plundering a treasure from a hidden city, then maybe in the 50 years between that story and Sowers, the details got garbled.

[Michael]

So, I should review Sowers of the Thunder!

It's difficult to keep coming up with superlatives when writing reviews for each story we read - suffice to say that this one does not disappoint.

As I read Howard's historical stories, I keep my laptop handy so that I can look up his references. The following comes with the health warning that it is largely based on info from Wikipedia.

(view spoiler)[In this case, the character of Baibars is drawn from a real person. While being presented by Howard as the Muslim antagonist of the Crusader, Red Cahal O'Donnel, he is not written as evil "bogie", rather as an ambitious and ruthless man bent on achieving power, no better or worse than his Christian counterparts.

The writer/historian Harold Lamb considered that Baibars could be identified with the folkloric figure Haroun from the Arabian Nights: The Thousand and One Nights, and Howard worked this skilfully into his story.

The sack of Jerusalem by the Kharesmian's (now apparently spelled "Khwarezmian") did happen at the time of Baibar's rise to power, so again, a neat use of historical detail.

The Masked Knight was a nice touch, and I really wish that Howard had developed that theme more fully. (hide spoiler)]

The finale(view spoiler)[, with Cahal limned against the setting sun, then dying mid-leap as he delivers the prophesied wound to Baibars (hide spoiler)] is, I think, amongst Howard's very best writing.